July Home Sales Up in Wis.

Sales of existing homes in Wis. increased 17 percent in July, compared to July of last year. The Wisconsin Realtors Association reports that median prices also rose for the fifth straight month, up 2.1 percent in July to $143,000 from $140,000 a year ago.

Michael Theo is President of the Wisconsin Realtors Association. He says it is still a buyers’ market, but inventories have fallen significantly over the past year. “When we look at all of those market fundamentals like prices, like historically low interest rates, we’ve seen things like the inventory of housing stock that’s on the marketplace drop over the past year from 18 months of inventory to about 13 months. So we’re starting to steadily chew away at the excess housing in the market, and I think that’s good for consumer confidence as well.”

Home sales in Wisconsin are outpacing the nation. The National Association of Realtors reports that second quarter home sales in Wisconsin grew by 21.3 percent over last year, while nationwide home sales grew 8.6 percent.